This Government set out an ambitious economic and social plan for our Island; a plan designed to recover our economy from the COVID years and a plan designed to build a more secure, vibrant and sustainable Island.
That plan, Mr President, has been put in place and progressed, despite the tumultuous events of the first three years of this Government. A plan for our Island that we have sought to deliver despite the first six months of this Government being dominated by our exit from the COVID crisis, despite a year of this Government being dominated by a cost of living crisis, despite a year of this Government being disrupted by a serious employment tribunal and despite three years of little to no growth in the economy of our biggest trading partner.
Despite this turmoil at home and abroad, we have pressed ahead. We have pressed ahead with a restoration and recovery programme for NHS waiting lists, delivering over 3,000 operations and reducing waiting times in an £18.3m programme cutting waiting lists for Orthopaedic, Ophthalmology and General Surgery.
We have pressed ahead in delivering a new Quality Assurance Programme for our schools, bringing back stronger levels of reassurance regarding educational delivery on our Island.
We have invested in our policing, tackling serious and organised crime threats to our Island, and our commitment to our Island’s security is resolute.
We have secured more reliable air services, strengthened air traffic control resilience and pressed ahead with the creation of a new airport board to capitalise on private sector experience.
We have committed to tackle brownfield sites through our Island Infrastructure Scheme and the Manx Development Corporation.
We have seen new exciting plans delivered for Villiers Square, Lord Street and Lake Road in Douglas, Ocean Castle in Port Erin and of course the MDC development currently underway on the Former Nurses Home site and Westmoreland Road.
Since June 2021 604 new homes have already been built and currently, there are 475 housing units with final planning approval ready for construction.
We now have a full and proper objective assessment of housing need which provides us with a solid evidence base to make sure over the long term we build the homes Manx residents need and want.
We have invested in supporting young families with early years education by extending the early years childcare credit scheme to parents of 3 year old children.
We have given our families additional support by equalising child benefit payments for each child.
We have committed £3.4m to tackle children’s mental health waiting lists and bring in early access to psychological assessments and therapies to prevent long term harms.
We have delivered significant reforms to strengthen leadership and governance in the centre of government. The Chief Executive now has clear accountability to support and line manage all department chief officers – a power that did not exist before and a change that has closed a civil service accountability gap at the highest levels which is necessary for system function and change. We have created a new Operational Performance Board which provides high-level oversight of operational performance across Government, and enhanced support to the Chief Executive.
And all departments are now delivering annual business plans and reports to Tynwald so that the public can see where progress is being made and our plans delivered.
Mr President, you do not deal with the significance of the events of the last three years without a committed and resilient workforce. I want to pay tribute to the whole public sector who have sought to consistently deliver – in amongst the political and economic storms that have engulfed us.
Mr President, this Government continues to put the economy at the heart of our considerations. Jobs and growth are vital if we want our Island to succeed and our services to be delivered. I know it has been tough economically in some sectors, but the underlying indicators remain positive. Positive job numbers, an increase in people employed and visitor numbers continuing to grow – as evidenced by the significant increase in visitors for the TT.
I know of course, that behind these successes, there is more, much more that needs to be done. The reality now is that we need to seriously start to tackle the growing pressures on our revenue budgets. This is driven by the increasing cost of the public sector, but fundamentally underpinned by the burgeoning growth of health and social care as our demographics change and demand increases.
I want to be clear with everyone; the current funding model for health and social care does not align with forecasted growth in our income and taxation receipts, without change. In other words, maintaining the status quo in terms of budget allocations whilst also meeting health and social care requirements as set out in the current funding formula, will lead to an unacceptable demand on our reserves without change to either our spending commitments or taxation structure.
We have already asked that Manx Care take steps to control spending, by demanding that the organisation stay within its allocated budget this year and DHSC, with Treasury support, are closely monitoring that performance.
The Treasury Minister, DHSC Minister and Council will also engage closely to deliver appropriate funding plans to deal with the cost of health and social care, but healthcare funding can only match what the economy can afford.
So, on that note, alongside the priorities that we set out in our latest version of our Island Plan, I want to give you three additional commitments to add to the work that we are undertaking to deliver on our promises:
Firstly, the Treasury Minister has committed to reviewing tax thresholds for next year’s budget. We are committed to a low tax economy, but we are also committed to ensuring that public service delivery benefits society in such a way that our Island remains united and we do not leave people behind. The Treasury Minister will update Tynwald in October as to progress on our taxation and spending forecasts for this financial year.
Secondly, I am today tasking the Chief Executive Officer and his Chief Officer team to undertake an efficiency review into headcount and delivery across central government departments and to report back in November
There are key streams of work that will be needed to achieve this:
Firstly, the public reporting of headcount in the public sector has for too long been a matter of confusion. The Operational Performance Board is very conscious of this matter and we are seeking greater transparency and discipline in this area. To aid this focus on the size of the public sector and delivery, I am asking that Manx Care personnel figures are now reported separately alongside central Government reporting and that headcount reporting is more specific and detailed. It is entirely appropriate for Tynwald and the Island to differentiate and understand clearly where expansion and indeed reductions have occurred and for the Government explain such changes accordingly.
Chief Officers will also work to improve headcount reporting and management across their departments. Part of this “grip” of headcount will require a full audit and cleanse of PiP, our personnel information system, so that you – and we – can be confident of data when it is published.
This work will now feed into a renewed and refreshed people strategy so that we have a fit for purpose organisation for the future.
Secondly, the Chief Executive Officer will be asking each department and board to present a paper detailing how their department can achieve efficiencies and cost reductions, outlining their plans to deliver savings and the impact of such.
The resulting proposals will be analysed carefully and impacts assessed with a view to understanding what reprioritisation of services may be available for the Council of Ministers to consider. This will also provide a platform for Council to consider what scope for reform to elements of the public services may be available. This will also align with the Chief Executive Officer’s plans to take the Digital Strategy and refocus it into a Customer and Digital Strategy with renewed emphasis on delivering a better services for the public.
Much of this work should be considered as short and medium term efficiencies but it also provides an opportunity to now consider longer-term reform to public services. These will not of course be delivered in the course of this administration, but we should begin the process of at least laying out how public services can be shaped into the future and defining the reforms that are needed to achieve this.
I will update Tynwald in November as to progress of this work.
Thirdly, the matter of transport costs to and from the Island remain a matter of public concern, especially for those that need to travel across at short notice. I can confirm today that Council will work with the Steam Packet over the summer to examine options to bring greater transparency to pricing, acknowledging that our sea service needs to work harder in the greater interest of our nation. I am very conscious that a Tynwald committee has begun some work in this area and I do not wish to undermine this. I commit that we will engage with that committee and keep them abreast of our progress. We will report to Tynwald in October with any plans in this respect and will engage, as appropriate, with interested parties.
Mr President, our ambitions to grow a secure, sustainable and vibrant Island mean that we must create the conditions for our economy to succeed. Underpinning that is our taxation strategy, appropriate investment into public services, scaling Government accordingly.
We are delivering. I have set out the evidence, but we must continue to improve and align our income and expenditure with public service priorities. Having come through three years of significant challenge, it is an appropriate time to refocus ourselves. These three commitments today set in motion a summer of work to deal with matters that have been signalled as being of importance to our Island.
